The most painful part is the fact that this is always propagated by preachers; probably not all preachers, yet the fact that there are those who could do such a thing for the sake of prosperity makes many wonder whether any of them should be trusted. Come to think of it, they are probably more desperate than their congregation who seek to hear their fake promise of a perfect, painless and prosperous life.
I do not really know if we should consider the congregations who constantly make sacrifices, giving up their time, treasure and talent for the financial growth of these conmen who claim to be clergies the victims. It is probably easier to do so following the thread of emotions; but then, it may not be entirely so. Those who seek to get rich through Ponzi schemes or through more unrealistic means probably deserve whatever repercussions they get in return. As much as I can tell, the doings of these fake clergymen are probably no different from a Ponzi scheme.
But then, this is Nigeria. Many are broken, not just financially, but also mentally and emotionally. And you can see this in their desperation, in the way they irrationally buy into the adverts of these fake clergymen. For some others, they have been so religiously groomed that they tend to lose every sense of reason when it comes to matters of religion. This set of people are probably the worst; you can see this in the way they admire and reverence their religious leaders; they literally consider them perfect. It is on this basis that they take every one of their teachings to be indubitable.
It could, after all, be that many of them do not really know what they are doing, or maybe they all do. Be it what it may, I still believe that everyone should face the repercussions of their actions. Though their desperation and quest for a better life has led them into something worse, a scam, one that might strip them of the few opportunities they have left, I do not pity them. I do not consider them victims; they simply wanted to take a short cut to life, a quest that eventually caught up with them.
There is another part of me, the emotional part. Out of pity, this part asks a very important question: "what if they do not really know what they are doing?" I guess I am as confused as the desperate congregations, after all. But then, I will not be human if I do not pay attention to the vulnerability of these people, the same vulnerability that is being leveraged by the fake clergymen. They are sometimes so vulnerable that they consider the repercussions of their actions to be God's doing.
